Benjamin Miller, MPHDairy and Food Inspection Division

Operations and Response Section Manager

Core Information Elements of aProduct Tracing System

Core Elements in Effective Systems

• Systems concept critical– Modifications without a standardized system

will not significantly improve traceability

• System should be:– Standardized– Required of all entities in the supply chain– Electronic

Core Elements in Effective Systems

Traceability should identify the,– Who– What – When– Where– How

of product creation and movement

Core Elements in Effective Systems

• An effectively designed system will protect public health by facilitating:– The identification of a vehicle during a

traceback investigation• Triangulation of plausible exposures in an outbreak

– Quick and efficient identification of all product(s) involved in a recall during a traceforward investigation

Core Elements in Effective Systems

• Lot Coding– A form of lot coding for all

food– Where feasible, lot code

should appear on consumer unit

– “Lot” defined by grower, manufacturer, etc., but should be small enough to facilitate effective identification and recall of product

Ingredient A

Manufacturing Process

Internal Product Traceability

Ingredient C

Ingredient B

ProductLot A1

Core Elements in Effective Systems

• Standardization– Links data across the supply chain– Allows maintenance of current “One Up / One

Down” system– Exists today and is in use by industry

• Human and machine readable• GS1 • Application Identifiers

– Does not “reinvent-the-wheel”

Core Elements in Effective Systems

Critical Tracing Identification Assignment and Retrieval

Ship To EntityShip To Entity Regulatory InquiryRegulatory InquiryShip From EntityShip From Entity

CTID Assignment ServerRegulator or 3rd Party Controlled

GTIN1 GTIN4GTIN3GTIN2

SSCC2SSCC1

Manufacturer - GLN1

DESADV

ShipmentInitiated

CTID Assigned

CTID: ACB123

CTID Transmitted

CTID: ACB123

Product Shipped

Internal ShipperDatabase

DESADVReceived

Internal ReceiverDatabase

GTIN2GTIN1 GTIN3

SSCC1

GTIN4

SSCC2

GTIN3

Regulatory AgencyIdentifies Food Safety

Issue With GTIN3

Warehouse – GLN2

Regulatory CTIN Querying Database

CTID

Que

ry se

nt to

GLN

2

Liste

ning W

ebSe

rverCTIN

is assigned and att

ached to D

ESADV

GTI

N3

+ Lo

t Cod

e ar

e as

soci

ated

w

ith S

SCC2

and

lin

ked

to C

TID

: AD

C123

Multiple Raw Ingredient Inputs

CTE1

CTE2

CTE3

CTE4

CTID Query sent toListening GLN1 WebServer

Micro Sample

CollectedStep 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6Step 7

Querying CTID shows that GTIN3 was manufactured

at GLN1 and further investigation shows the source as contaminated

raw ingredients.

Critical Tracking Events:

– Must be unique

– Identified on invoices or via EDI

– “Key” to link other tracing data

• i.e. GS1 standards

– Allows trading partners to maintain “One-Step” traceability